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Papers In Press, published online ahead of print October 1, 2008 J. Lipid Res., doi:10.1194/jlr.D800031-JLR200
Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 49, 2268-2275, October 2008
Fluorescence-topographic NSOM directly visualizes peak-valley polarities of GM1/GM3 rafts in cell membrane fluctuations*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Primate Biomedical Research, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
* This work was supported by NIH RO1 grants HL64560 (to ZWC) and RR13601 (to ZWC). Published, JLR Papers in Press, July 4, 2008.
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: e-mail: zchen{at}uic.edu
Simultaneous fluorescence-topographic nanoscale imaging of cell-surface molecules in the context of membrane ultra-structures has not been reported. Here, near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM)-based direct fluorescence-topographic imaging indicated that GM3 rafts/nanodomains (190.0 ± 49.8 nm ranging 84.5–365.0 nm) were localized predominantly on the peaks of microvillus-like protrusions in the apical membrane of GM3 + Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, whereas GM1 rafts/nanodomains (159.5 ± 63.8 nm ranging 42–360 nm) were distributed mainly on the slops of protrusions or the valleys between protrusions in the plasma membranes of GM1 + MDCK cells. The data demonstrated that gangliosides polarized not only in a well-known apical-basolateral manner but also in the more microscopic peak-valley manner, implicating unique distribution of GM1 or GM3 in cell-surface fluctuations on the apical membrane of polarized cells. The peak-valley polarities of gangliosides also implicated their different functions relevant to lipid rafts, microvilli, or cellular processes. Importantly, our study demonstrated for the first time that the NSOM-based direct fluorescence-topographic imaging is unique and powerful for elucidating nanoscale distribution of specific cell-surface molecules in membrane fluctuations.
Supplementary key words near-field scanning optical microscopy fluorescent quantum dot fluorescence-topographic imaging ganglioside GM1 ganglioside GM3 MDCK polarity Abbreviations: ATCC, American Type Culture Collection; CTB, cholera toxin subunit B; DIC, differential interference contrast; EM, electron microscopy; FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate; FWHM, full width at half maximum; MDCK, Madin-Darby canine kidney; MFI, mean fluorescence intensity; NSOM, near-field scanning optical microscopy; QD, quantum dot; ROI, region of interest
Morphological, chemical, and functional polarities of membrane lipids (1) are well described and are relevant to lipid raft formation and cellular signaling. While different lipid components, especially glycolipids, are distributed in the apical-basolateral manner in the plasma membranes of epithelial cells (2), the ganglioside-enriched rafts on T lymphocytes can redistribute asymmetrically in a leading-edge-uropod manner upon cell activation (3). Despite identification of apical-basolateral and leading-edge-uropod distributions of membrane lipids, little is known about nanostructures and precise topographic localization of gangliosides or lipid rafts in the context of biological membrane ultrastructures, such as microvilli or protrusions/valleys. Widely used conventional imaging techniques have a limited capability to elucidate fluorescence-topographic distribution of cell-surface molecules at nanoscale. The traditional fluorescence instruments including confocal microscopy do not have enough optical resolution for detection of nanscale ganglioside clusters. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurement or single particle tracking technique is unable to reveal the nanoscale topographic localization of molecules on membrane surface. Rapidly developed atomic force microscopy fails to detect fluorescence information. The high-resolution electron microscopy (EM) is often limited by uncertain fidelity or reliability due to the complicated sample-preparing procedures and demanding imaging conditions. Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) should be the best candidate for nanoscale imaging of topographic distribution of membrane gangliosides or lipid rafts, since NSOM can simultaneously provide topographic and fluorescence visualization of cell-surface molecules in nanoscale resolution (4, 5). In this study, the simultaneous fluorescence-topographic NSOM imaging, in combination with fluorescent quantum dot (QD) (4), was utilized to directly visualize nanoscale topographic-distributions of gangliosides or lipid rafts in the apical plasma membranes of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells (MDCK) cells.
Cell line, cell cultures, and reagents Canine kidney MDCK epithelial cells [NBL-2; American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)] were cultured in the medium of ATCC-formulated Eagle's Minimum Essential Medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) in the 37°C, 5% CO2 incubator. The medium was changed every 2–3 days. Subculturing was performed according to the protocol provided by the ATCC.
The reagents used in the study were as follows: biotin for negative control, biotinylated Cholera toxin subunit B (CTB) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated CTB were purchased from Sigma; mouse IgM (kappa-chain) for isotype control and mouse anti-GM3 IgM mAb (GMR6) were purchased from BD Biosciences (San Jose, CA) and Seikagaku America (Falmouth, MA), respectively. Biotinylated goat anti-mouse IgM (µ chain) IgG mAb and streptavidin-conjugated QD655 were purchased from Invitrogen. All negative control experiments showed negative results (data now shown). To remove QD aggregates in commercial QD solution, the following procedures were followed to prepare QD dyes for use in each experiment, as mentioned previously (4). Briefly, the QD solution was spin down at 5,000 g for 5 min, a small amount (in the order of µl) of the supernatant was diluted in PBS, and then filtered/centrifuged through the Ultrafree-MC centrifugal filter devices (Millipore Corp., Bedford, MA) with
Confocal microscopy
A schematic diagram is shown in Fig. 2A to image dynamic QD staining of GM1 or GM3 microdomains in the apical membranes of MDCK cells. Adherent MDCK cells grown on the sterile coverglass in the complete medium in the Lab-Tek chambered coverglass system were washed twice by 5% FBS in PBS buffer, fixed by 2% formaldehyde at 4°C for 30 min and then washed for 3 times with 5% FBS in PBS prior to staining. Then the cells were stained with biotinylated CTB for imaging of GM1-microdomains or anti-GM3 IgM plus buffer wash plus biotinylated anti-IgM mAb for imaging of GM3-microdomains at 4°C for 20 min, followed by 2%-formaldehyde fixation at 4°C for 30 min and washed two times with the buffer. The fixed, CTB-bound or primary Ab-bound MDCK cells in
To quantitatively analyze the dynamic processes of QD staining of ganglioside microdomains in plasma membranes of MDCK cells, four types of regions of interest (ROI) were classified: i) the regions exhibiting ganglioside microdomains as lipid raft (the bright fluorescence spots on cell surface); ii) the regions nearby ganglioside microdomains (representing nonspecific staining) as negative control (NC1); iii) the regions in solution outside cells as positive control (PC), since fluorescent QD were saturated in these regions by random diffusion before they stained cell-surface GM1 or GM3; and iv) the regions inside cells as negative control (NC2) since QD could not reach these regions. In each type, 10 regions (circled by numbers in Fig. 2) with the same area and radius ( 0.29 um2; radius = 300 nm) were selected for automatic quantification of fluorescence intensities with time lapse (during a 45-min period) by confocal microscopy software. For the static imaging of ganglioside-enriched domains on MDCK cells, cells were prepared as previously described. Samples were incubated with biotinylated CTB or anti-GM3 IgM plus tiotinylated anti-IgM mAb, and washed for three times with 5% FBS in PBS, and then stained with freshly-prepared streptavidin-conjugated QD solution, followed by the 2% formaldehyde fixation at 4°C for 30 min and 2 washes with the buffer. A Carl Zeiss LSM510 Meta5 laser scanning confocal microscope (Carl Zeiss, Thornwood, NY) was utilized in the present study. A beam of 405 nm from a diode laser, LP650 filter, and PMT were used for excitation of QD655, filtering, and detection of fluorescence. For the two-color imaging, another beam of 488 nm from an Ag/Kr laser and BP505-550 filter were applied for the FITC-conjugated CTB detection.
NSOM
Data processing and statistics
Immune-conjugated QD fluorescence staining and real-time dynamics of GM3 and GM1 microdomains in apical plasma membranes of MDCK cells under confocal microscopy As an initial effort to perform NSOM/QD-based fluorescence-topographic imaging of ganglioside-nanostructures, static or real-time confocal microscopy was used to visualize QD fluorescence staining and dynamics of ganglioside microdomains in the apical plasma membranes of prefixed MDCK cells. To ensure an appropriate QD staining of gangliosides on cell surface, the QD aggregates were removed from commercial stock QD solution through the centrifugation and filtration treatments (Fig. 1A ). These treatments gave rise to high-fidelity QD preparation containing single individual streptavidin-conjugated QD655 particles [very small fraction contained two QD clusters (4)]. The QD preparation was then used to immunologically stain gangliosides GM1 and GM3 on prefixed MDCK cells and imaged under confocal microscope. Most MDCK cells were GM3+, and some were GM1+, with a few cells being GM1+GM3+ (Fig. 1B–D). The GM3 or GM1 were stained as microdomains (>1000 nm) under confocal microscopy. GM1 or GM3 microdomains were mainly distributed on the apical plasma membrane as visualized on the upper surface of the cells (Fig. 1B, C, right images). Images from side views of cell sections showed that these microdomains could also be distributed in the basolateral membrane to some extent, indicating an apical-basolateral membrane distribution of these microdomains (Figs. 1B, C, right flanking rectangle images). Two-color images showed that GM1 and GM3 did not colocalize on the GM1+GM3+ MDCK cells (Fig. 1D).
We then performed additional quality-control experiments to ensure that QD-stained ganglioside microdomains represent the true immune staining of GM1 or GM3 molcules, but not accumulated QD aggregates formed arguably during the staining procedure. We made use of the photobleach-resistance and brightness properties of QD particles and performed the real-time observations of the dynamic QD staining of GM1 and GM3 microdomains in the apical plasma membranes of MDCK cells. Under confocal microscope, the freshly prepared solution containing single individual streptavidin-conjugated QD was added into the cell suspension, and immediately imaged by real-time confocal microscopy for 45 min (Fig. 2A
, the schematic diagram and the Methods section). It was evident that the fluorescent dots of ganglioside microdomains on the cell surface became larger and brighter under real-time confocal microscopy (data not shown). Quantification analysis showed that the fluorescence intensity for the fluorescent dots of GM1 or GM3 microdomains (red curves in the right graphs of Fig. 2) was progressively enhanced with time lapse, whereas little or no increase was seen for negative control 1 (unstained areas with similar spots nearby GM1 or GM3 microdomains, representing possible nonspecific staining) and negative control 2 (unstained areas inside cells where QD were unreachable). These results provided direct evidence that the fluorescent dots of GM1 or GM3 microdomains were not caused by the preformed QD aggregates during immune staining procedures.
The in situ NSOM fluorescence imaging indicated that fluorescent dots of GM3 nanodomains/rafts had a larger mean diameter (FWHM) than those of GM1 rafts
Direct fluorescence-topographic NSOM imaging revealed the peak-valley polarities of GM1 and GM3 rafts in cell-membrane fluctuations Next, the exact microscopic localizations of the ganglioside nanodomains/rafts in the cell membrane ultrastructures were directly imaged by fluorescence-topographic NSOM. Under NSOM, the membrane surface of MDCK cells displayed many protrusions with various sizes as shown in the height profiles of cross-sections (Figs. 3C and 4C) or 3D NSOM topographic images (Figs. 3E and 4E). The NSOM topographic protrusions are similar in shape to previously defined microvilli, we described them as microvillus-like protrusions, but keep in mind that they are two different concepts. Since the NSOM topographic and fluorescence images were simultaneously obtained, the exact microscopic localization of the ganglioside rafts in the membrane fluctuations could be detected in the merged fluorescence-topographic images. The merged fluorescence-topographic 2D images (right panels of Figs. 3B and 4B) showed that a majority of GM1 rafts were localized in the slop of the microvillus-like protrusions of plasma membranes or on the valleys (Fig. 3B, the right panel showing GM1 rafts in pink derived from blue-red overlap). In contrast, almost all GM3 rafts were distributed on the peaks of the microvillus-like protrusions (Fig. 4B, right panel). The different distribution patterns of GM1 and GM3 rafts were also evident when topographic surface heights (upper curves) were matched for fluorescence spikes of rafts (lower curves) as scanned across sections (Figs. 3C and 4C). The coexistence of two or more different lipid phases and the phase separation in the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells have been reported (11). However, the phase separation was observed in the horizontal not perpendicular direction at the apical membrane plane. The colocalization of GM1 with prominin-1, a presumed microvillar marker, under confocal microscope has been taken as indirect evidence that GM1, but not GM3, may be localized in microvilli (12). However, one may argue that low-resolution confocal microscopy cannot accurately determine the real space relationship or location of two molecules unless the molecules are separated a lot from each other. Precise colocalization of two molecules might require nanoscale imaging, which is usually challenging to confocal microscopy. Virtually, the direct fluorescence-topographic nanoscal NSOM imaging demonstrates that GM3, but not GM1, are localized in microvillus-like protrusions. Our finding that GM3, but not GM1, are localized in microvillus-like protrusions appears to be supported by other relevant studies. It has been reported that some molecules such as epidermal growth factor, human insulin receptor, glucagon receptor, and certain adhesion molecules or ion channels have a preferential initial localization in microvillus-like protrusions (6, 8, 13, 14). The activities of these receptors or molecules can be inhibited by GM3 gangliosides through direct interaction with the receptors localized in microvillus (7, 15, 16), suggesting GM3 localizes on the microvillus-like protrusions. On the other hand, the microvillus-like protrusions are highly enriched in actin-binding proteins (13, 17), which probably provide driving forces for the polarization of molecules in local membranes. The direct fluorescence-topographic imaging of asymmetric distribution of gangliosides implicates that gangliosides polarize not only in the apical-basolateral manner but also in a manner of a more microscopic peak-valley distribution of GM3 and GM1 on cell-membrane fluctuations in the apical membranes of polarized cells. The feature may be related to function of microvilli and various cellular processes. GM1 and GM3 membrane rafts (1, 18, 19) may have distinct function, since they are localized differently in the peak-valley manner in the apical membrane fluctuations. Importantly, this study demonstrated for the first time that NSOM/QD-based direct fluorescence-topographic imaging is a unique, powerful tool for elucidating nanoscale topographic distribution of specific cell-surface molecules in the context of specialized membrane ultrastructures. Moreover, the fluorescence-topographic and simplicity natures of NSOM appear to be advantageous over complicated operation of conventional EM.
We'd like to thank Dr. Kai Simons (Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany), Dr. Gerrit Van Meer (Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands), Dr. Sandro Sonnino (University of Milan, Segrate, Italy), Dr. Michael Edidin (Johns Hopkins University, MD, USA), and Dr. Ian Macara (University of Virginia, VA, USA) for helpful information, discussion, and suggestion.
Submitted on
May 22, 2008
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